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Geek out on the Solar Decathlon

I just had a ton of geeky fun reviewing all the entries in this year’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, which challenges collegiate teams to design, build and operate houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, comfortable, healthy and attractive, harnessing the sun to produce at least as much energy and hot water as they consume.

The contest is a “decathlon” in the sense that teams and homes are rated or judged based on 10 categories: Architecture, market appeal, engineering, communications, affordability, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment and energy balance.

Middlebury's entry in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2011 is inspired by a New England Farmhouse and features an indoor green wall for growing plants. (Jim Tetro/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)Click picture for a gallery of all of this year's entries

The homes all have a lot of similarities, including solar-power panels, solar hot-water heating, use of windows to let in natural light, the latest high-efficiency systems and appliances, high-performance insulation and planted areas to filter and reduce stormwater runoff.

But I was particularly struck by the widely varying designs, taking in:

Sleek, contemporary homes, such as Team New Jersey’s concrete ENJOY House and Team Belgium’s stripped-down E-cube;

Homes that nodded to the past, such as Appalachian State University’s settlement-inspired Solar Homestead; the University of Calgary’s tepee-inspired TRTL; and Middlebury College’s New England farmhouse-inspired Self-Reliance;

Homes that aim to fit into existing surroundings, such as Purdue University’s Midwestern-look INhome and the City College of New York’s Solar Roofpod; and

Homes that strike out in a new direction, such as Team China’s Y-shaped Y Container and the Southern California Institute of Architecture-California Institute of Technology team’s billboard material-clad CHIP.

And there are a few wrinkles in the teams’ approaches to the contest goals, as well. Check out the photo gallery for more details.

The Department of Energy has hosted the contest every two years since 2002 in Washington, D.C. The current Solar Decathlon runs through Oct. 2.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.